Bondalti successfully completed, in 2026, the takeover bid for Ercros – Spain’s leading chemical company –, securing 77.23% of the voting rights, in an investment of approximately 247.5 million euros. The transaction takes Bondalti to a new level of scale and presence in the international market, strengthening its industrial base and expanding its portfolio of products and capabilities. More than just inorganic growth, this combination with Ercros lays the foundation for a joint industrial project with long-term ambition, focused on value creation, the complementarity of assets, and the establishment of a more robust and competitive chemical platform on a European scale.

The energy transition at the Estarreja site, carried out under the REPowerEU programme, gained scale in 2025 with the conversion of brine electrolysis to state-of-the-art technology, featuring the latest membranes and electrodes, thereby enhancing efficiency and reducing carbon intensity. The programme also incorporated two solar farms (30 MWp) for self-consumption and an energy storage system that is a first in Portugal (12 MW/12 MWh), increasing autonomy, operational flexibility, and supply stability at one of the country’s most advanced electricity-intensive hubs. Currently, renewable energy sources account for 44% of the total energy consumed at the Estarreja industrial complex.

The triennial general shutdown at the Estarreja Complex took place between March and May, requiring 19 months of preparation, 700 external workers, and more than 200,000 hours of work. The work helped strengthen asset integrity, operational efficiency, and safety conditions, and the post-shutdown restart proceeded successfully and without serious accidents – a critical milestone for the complex’s industrial reliability. The operation, which included extending the work period to accommodate technological upgrades, had an expected impact on production volumes and the financial results for the year. Rigorous planning, however, allowed the company to maintain its operating margins at robust levels, demonstrating its resilience and adaptability, even in a year of heavy investment in maintenance and efficiency.

In 2025, Bondalti strengthened its ESG standing: an EcoVadis Platinum medal for the fifth consecutive year (top 1% of companies in the sector), a “B” rating in CDP Climate Change and in Water Security, as well as distinctions from APEE – the Portuguese Association for Business Ethics – in climate action, the circular economy, and community. The efr (Family-Responsible Company) certification also once again recognised responsible people management practices, consolidating a cross-cutting ESG approach throughout the business. Most-awarded company by Europe’s largest chemical industry association. Bondalti was the only company to receive three awards at the Responsible Care^® Awards 2024, an initiative organised annually by Cefic – the European Chemical Industry Council.

In 2025, Bondalti strengthened its alignment with the new European industrial framework, shaped by the Clean Industrial Deal agenda and the central role of basic industries in the continent’s competitiveness. The company is among the initial signatories of the Antwerp Declaration, an initiative that brings together European industrial leaders in support of an Industrial Deal that reconciles decarbonisation with competitiveness, access to energy at sustainable costs, regulatory simplification, and the protection of critical value chains. This stance is consistent with Bondalti’s investments, which focus on energy efficiency and decarbonisation, in a context where chemistry and the integrated water cycle are emerging as strategic industrial infrastructures for European production autonomy.

Bondalti Water’s 2025 portfolio showed strong momentum in its core industrial segment: a pharmaceutical wastewater treatment plant in northern Spain, a demineralised water system at a paper mill with a recovery rate exceeding 90%, and the operation of a wastewater treatment plant for a brewery in Barcelona. These highly technically complex projects reinforce the company’s position across the entire water cycle. This was also the year in which desalination gained prominence with new Bondalti Water projects for hotel chains, addressing water stress in tourist destinations. At the same time, biogas established itself as a new energy vector, with significant industrial contracts awarded in Spain, supported by the recovery of effluents and waste, reinforcing the circular logic between water, energy, and decarbonisation.

In 2025, the Together Matters Programme established itself as a cornerstone of Bondalti’s work with communities and the creation of social, environmental, and economic value in the regions where it operates, helping to strengthen its social licence to operate. An impact assessment of the projects developed is currently underway, with the aim of informing decisions regarding their continuation, expansion, or potential redesign in the coming years. To this end, Bondalti is working to give the programme a more strategic and Iberian dimension, particularly through the “From Purpose to Impact” initiative

Bondalti Chemicals, S.A. has reached a significant milestone in its sustainability journey with the official approval of its near-term targets by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This validation confirms that the company’s climate goals have been assessed and approved in accordance with internationally recognised scientific criteria, reinforcing Bondalti’s commitment to decarbonisation, climate action, and the creation of long-term sustainable value.